


Another Year Over

by bobbiejelly



Series: Guess Who's Crushing on Addison Montgomery? [35]
Category: Grey's Anatomy
Genre: F/F, Hurt/Comfort, MerAdd, New Years, meddison
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-16
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:27:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27583372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bobbiejelly/pseuds/bobbiejelly
Summary: "He told me he loves you"
Relationships: Meredith Grey/Addison Montgomery
Series: Guess Who's Crushing on Addison Montgomery? [35]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1797412
Comments: 8
Kudos: 27





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Christmas Lights](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/713953) by AliceSloane13. 
  * Inspired by [The Pact Of The Scorned Women](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25795927) by [sadngay](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sadngay/pseuds/sadngay). 
  * Inspired by [Anniversary Letter](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27581530) by [Lex_ie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lex_ie/pseuds/Lex_ie). 
  * Inspired by [Broken](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27575767) by [LordofLezzies](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LordofLezzies/pseuds/LordofLezzies). 
  * Inspired by [Keep Calm (As She Sleeps)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27552097) by [RjIsRandom](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RjIsRandom/pseuds/RjIsRandom). 
  * Inspired by [I’m Not What You Came For](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/735918) by flipflop_diva. 



_Author's note:_

Is it too early for a holiday special?

This one is inspired by 'Christmas Lights,' by AliceSloane13 on FFN, and occurs during "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer" in Season Two.

Probably a one-shot.

bobbiejelly

* * *

** Another Year Over  **

* * *

"He told me he loves you," Addison breathes out for Meredith the moment she feels her behind her at Joe's.

"What?!" Meredith sits down beside Addison and frowns at Addison's grief. She probably shouldn't be here, but she is now, and she's definitely not walking back to the hospital.

"He did. Just now. And then he walked away," Addison says to the intern while blinking back tears.

"He didn't!" Meredith scoffs as she pulls over a spare coaster.

"He did, Merry Christmas Meredith," Addison offers a tight-lipped smile.

"Is that supposed to be sarcastic?" Meredith asks and then winces at her own lameness.

"No, yes, no, I'm not sure what I'm supposed to say here, Grey," Addison sighs.

"I'm sorry," Meredith offers, and instinctively reaches over to pat Addison's shoulder.

When she does, Addison doesn't pull away right away, but instead, she crumbles completely and bursts into tears.

"Hey, hey," Meredith says soothingly. "You're going to be okay…" she offers.

"It's not going to be okay, Meredith. My husband doesn't love me anymore because he loves you, and yet you're not with him either, and instead, you're here comforting me when you could just be going off getting McDreamy with him at your house instead of his stupid trailer where we tried both living together, but I kept getting bug-bitten," Addison vents at her.

And then, Meredith starts giggling, and Addison can't figure out why she's laughing.

"What?" Says Addison, her mood slightly lighter.

"You just-" Meredith giggles again.

"What!?" Addison asks again.

"You just- you used 'McDreamy,' as a verb, and it's not even a verb, and he's not even McDreamy anymore because I am so over him!" Meredith giggles.

"You're over him?" Addison asks with a scrutinizing expression.

"I'm over him. I swear to god," says Meredith.

"He's not over you," Addison says bluntly.

"I know, but I'm over him. Seriously. I promise," says Meredith.

"Even now when you know that he's in love with you?" Addison offers.

"Especially now that I know he's the kind of guy who tells his wife he loves another woman while she's moved all the way from New York for him!" Meredith sighs exasperatedly.

"Well, to be fair, I mean, I did cheat on him," Addison reminds Meredith.

"Right, but that was just one time, right?" Meredith asks skeptically, but then she has her answer when Addison looks down at the floor again.

"Well if you didn't know even though you probably did, before you showed up, he cheated on you with me… Erm… More than once…" Meredith offers carefully.

"And you really didn't know about me?" Addison asks her genuinely.

"And I really didn't know about you," Meredith offers just as genuinely.

"So I was wrong, and he was wrong, but you weren't wrong because you didn't know any of it?" Addison summarizes.

"And you weren't wrong with me, I mean, you never lied to me, even when he did," Meredith offers.

"I thought you deserve more than that," Addison says, and realizes it feels more like an admission than it probably is.

"Thanks…" Meredith says awkwardly. "For what it's worth… I think you deserved more than someone who's not in love with you to the point he pretends you don't even exist," Meredith offers.

"For what it's worth… I think you deserve more than someone who can't decide between two extremely valid options," Addison offers.

"Thanks?" Meredith smirks at Addison.

"I mean, you're more than just valid. You're a catch. Yes, you're a catch, Meredith," Addison rambles, and Meredith can tell she's probably drunk now by the way she's calling her a 'catch,' as if people still said that these days.

"Thanks, Addison. I mean, I think you're a catch too," Meredith laughs.

"Are you being sarcastic now?" Addison asks her.

"No," Meredith says quickly. "Not at all," she offers genuinely.

"You know, Derek never appreciated either of us fully," Addison says strongly.

"So true. He really didn't!" Meredith agrees with her.

"He really didn't give you everything you know. If he had come clean about me he could have left me for you earlier. He would have been better off now, y'know?" Addison says annoyedly.

"Or, he could have forgiven you. Or at least set you free. One of the other rather than all of this in or out bullshit. It's the in or out bullshit that really gets to me," Meredith rants on.

"It is. It's the in or out bullshit that just gets the best of us. We really ought to stop humoring him," Addison sighs.

"We really ought to," Meredith agrees with her, surprisingly.

Addison is also surprised, but comforted by this, and she offers Meredith another chance at being friendly with her.

"We ought to make some new year's resolutions. Number one, stop calling Derek 'McDreamy," Meredith suggests.

"Are these for you or for me? Because I don't really call him McDreamy…" Addison giggles.

"Okay then, what's yours?" Meredith asks Addison.

"Number one, stop waiting for him when he's late and he promised," Addison says aloud, gaining confidence as she keeps speaking up.

"That's a good one," Meredith says encouragingly.

"It is a good one," Addison smiles. "So is yours," she adds for good measure.

"We could go for drinks once a week to make sure we're on track," Meredith offers.

"That sounds like Derek-a-holics anonymous," Addison groans out.

"Hey, it takes one to know one, but at least this time I'm rooting for you," Meredith says with a smile.

"Alright then, I'm rooting for you too, Grey," Addison says with a real smile this time.

They sit for a moment, just enjoying the company, and realizing that they finally feel just okay for a while.

"Y'know, Addison?" Meredith finally speaks up.

"Uh-huh, Meredith?" Addison asks her.

"Happy New Year," Meredith finally offers.

"Happy New Year," Addison smiles.

"To us," Meredith raises her glass in a 'cheers,'.

"To us," Addison raises her own glass back.

As they clink their drinks together their eyes meet, and their expressions soften, and they let their guard down for the first time in a long time.

When the cool champagne finally touches their lips, it's in celebration, rather than for drinking their pain away.

_It helps them, for Meredith and Addison, to finally be in this together._

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***** **FIN**

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_Author's Note:_

Thanks for reading, folks!

###  [bobbiejelly](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bobbiejelly/pseuds/bobbiejelly)


	2. Chapter 2

* * *

**Another Year Over 2**

* * *

Four hours later, the laughter is plentiful, as are the empty glasses before them.

It was easy to say at the time that they were going to move on from him, but when it came right down to it, it was hard for Meredith and Addison to stay strong.

"He's calling me," Meredith says quietly.

"Are you going to answer that?" Addison asks without judgment.

"Part of me wants to, part of me wants to smash my phone in a gazillion pieces," Meredith sighs.

"He's not worth that," says Addison.

"Easy for you to say," offers Meredith, with a scowl that isn't actually directed at Addison.

"Now he's calling me," Addison laughs bitterly.

"Are YOU going to answer him?" asks Meredith.

"Well," Addison hesitates.

"Addison," Meredith reaches out, and covers the redhead's hands with her own. "It's time we start taking care of ourselves," she says in a moment of bravery.

It would be such a shame for them both to be breaking their resolutions so early. The clock technically struck while they were both commiserating, and they only noticed when everyone around started cheering.

"I always dreamed of being kissed into the new year," admits Addison.

"So did I," offers Meredith. "But I guess that's not happening," she sighs.

"Maybe next year," Addison shrugs.

"Yeah, maybe next year," Meredith mimics.

"It's getting colder, do you want to get out of here?" offers Addison.

"If you're saying you're driving, I'm not letting you hurt yourself," Meredith says sceptically.

"God no," says Addison. "I could call us a cab," she offers.

"It'll be expensive as hell," says Meredith.

"Not if we split it," says Addison.

"Okay," says Meredith reluctantly, not wanting to move quite yet.

"No point sitting here while they're trying to close," says Addison.

"You wouldn't believe the number of times I've been here past then," Meredith says absently.

Softly, Addison gathers their coats as she pays off the remainder of their tabs. Meredith offers to pitch in, but Addison says something quickly about her being an attending and all, and Meredith doesn't have the energy to fight her anyway.

It hits Addison then, that the reason that Meredith's been drinking lately has been about their bitter love problems, and it saddens her to the point of reaching out for the blonde.

"What is this about?" asks Meredith when Addison wraps her arms around her.

"This is me saying I'm sorry," says Addison.

"You're not the one who should be apologizing," says Meredith.

"I'm one of them," Addison adds in.

Meredith doesn't fight her on that one.

The taxi arrives, and Meredith and Addison slide into the back seat of it, and Meredith directs him to her house because she knows that Addison doesn't have one here.

"We could have drunk room service booze at my hotel room," Addison offers flatly.

"It's 4 in the morning, we might as well not get even more wasted," Meredith sighs.

When they reach the threshold, Addison shivers, and Meredith reaches her own arm around the taller woman for warmth.

"Come in, everyone's asleep anyway," says Meredith as she kicks off her shoes.

The remains of an intern party wrack the house, and Addison somehow manages to find herself a place to put her shoes among all the carnage.

"Do you want me to sleep on the couch?" Meredith offers, knowing that everyone else's rooms are probably occupied by people crashing at her place, judging by the unfamiliar cars in the driveway.

"You don't have to," Addison says quietly, not wanting to be even more of a burden than she already feels.

"I'm not making you," says Meredith. "You're the guest," she argues.

"We could have gone to my hotel, then I wouldn't have been," offers Addison.

Her protesting doesn't make any sense any longer, and they're both tired, so Meredith just stops fighting and shows her upstairs.

"Do you want to shower?" offers Meredith.

"I'm so tired, I just want to crash," says Addison, yawning.

"Okay, go ahead," says Meredith, pointing to her bed, and picking up a clean pair of pajamas for Addison to wear from her dresser, while she picks up the pair she'd been wearing last night from the floor.

"You can stay here," says Addison, so soft it's barely noticeable.

"I'd like that," Meredith says, as she finally agrees with the redhead.

When they both crawl under the covers, Meredith notices that Addison starts whimpering to herself, and she ignores it for a few minutes until she can't stand it anymore.

"I can't believe that I'm nearly forty, and this is all I have to show for it," whispers Addison.

"Hey, you're a brilliant doctor, you've got that to show for it," offers Meredith.

"Thanks," Addison sniffles, as Meredith just sits there.

"Are you going to complain about something back?" Addison asks her.

"I can't believe I'm still a disappointment in everyone's eyes," says Meredith, truthfully

"I'm not disappointed in you, I'm proud of you," offers Addison.

"You'd be the first one," says Meredith. "Hey, I'm proud of you too," Meredith offers.

"Meredith, could I stay here, for just a little while?" Addison asks her, a bit longer into the night, and by this time Addison has snuggled closer to Meredith for comfort.

"You can stay as long as you like," Meredith nods for her, as she tucks her head on top of Addison's shoulder.

_Addison stays with her for three weeks, before Meredith finally asks her to move in with her, permanently._

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***** **FIN**

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End file.
